Stock-Market Gains Boost Wealth World-Wide

The number of high-net-worth people around the globe and the size of their collective wealth both grew last year, but at the slowest rate in five years, according to an annual survey by Capgemini, a consulting firm based in Paris, and RBC Wealth Management, a division of Toronto-based Royal Bank of Canada.

Globally there were 14.6 million high-net-worth people, defined as those who had at least $1 million of investible wealth (excluding a primary home and collectibles). That’s an increase of 6.7% from the end of 2013. Their collective wealth in U.S. dollars rose 7.2% to $56.4 trillion. Both measures were driven largely by growth in rich populations and wealth in the Asia-Pacific region and North America, says the survey, which was released Wednesday morning.